CMS will expand the Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) program to all MAC Jurisdictions later this year. CMS launched the first TPE pilot project in 2016 with Part A and B providers in Jurisdiction F. Due to the success of the pilot, all Jurisdictions will now take part in CMS's latest audit initiative. The TPE process begins with providers who have high error rates for a specific item. Selected providers will be audited on a sample of claims and then individually educated based on the results. This review and education process can repeat up to three times until a desirable error rate is achieved or the contractors deem it necessary to escalate and engage other tools in their arsenal. ​As more resources shift to the TPE program, providers can expect closure of many ongoing, widespread DME MAC audits. MiraVista expects this innovation to be welcomed by providers and ultimately lessen the number and duration of audited claims at the NPI level. We will share more details of this new program and answer your questions during A Power Hour with Andrea Stark event on October 19.

In social circles, we call it TMI because we are too lazy to text "Too Much Information." In business circles, TMI is an obstacle to making a decision.

The goal of every business is not to gather facts. It is not to fight the good fight. It is not to lobby Congress. The ultimate goal is to earn a profit* by providing a valuable product or service to customers. Information is merely a tool used to achieve that goal. As such, decision-makers want only as much as is necessary to execute the strategies that advance the organization's profitability goal.

Serial entrepreneur Norm Brodsky wrote that every business has magic numbers, a few metrics that predict all others. By tracking these magic numbers closely, entrepreneurs can adapt and respond quickly to opportunities and risks facing their business.

In DME, collection percentage is the magic number for healthy revenue. Understanding the portion of reported sales that convert to cash each month by payer, product, and referral source will signal process problems and payer errors long before your AR department or industry trade groups could ever hope to detect.

I enjoy rolling my sleeves up and getting things done, which is probably why I like fixing things on our family vehicles. My husband and I have a 1979 VW convertible Super Beetle that gives us the opportunity to tinker with restoration.

The front wheel seized up recently, and I was confident we could get her right with an hour’s investment. Four hours later, we found the adjustment screw for the drum brakes and released the wheel. But when we took a look inside, we immediately knew the shoes and springs had to be replaced.

Job not complete. No satisfaction.

The following weekend, we replaced the front brake shoes. Surely this would be done in about four hours. Nope. After replacing the shoes, we realized the wheel cylinders were also shot and had to be replaced. Two weekends later and I still can’t drive the car.

Job not complete. No satisfaction.

I started out with a laser focus on a stuck wheel and didn’t consider the other detours that might hinder my timeline. It was supposed to be simple and quick and, when it wasn’t, I confess I was pretty disappointed. We were supposed to be riding into the sunset two weekends ago, but it didn’t pan out like I thought.

You might not be a mechanic or get excited about tinkering on vehicles, but switch out the car in my story to an accounts receivable project.

Now you can relate. These projects drag on and never seem to produce the cash we anticipated. When’s the last time you had that “riding off into the sunset” feeling after working an AR project?

We get off track because we laser focus on the dollar amounts displayed on the AR report (aka “the stuck wheel”). We have great expectations of collecting that number to the penny … and we dive right in. Two weekends later, there’s no riding into the sunset. It doesn’t turn into cash. It takes longer than we expect.

Job not complete. No satisfaction.

Instead of diving into your AR report and figuring it out as you go, put a plan in place. Collect more of what is collectible, and stop wasting time on what isn’t. Before your next AR project, shore up expectations by doing things differently:

Classify your significant payers.

Prioritize projects based on cost-benefit.

Sample the project before expending significant resources.

​It’s time to square off with your AR report and set yourself up for success instead of disappointment. We share more tricks and tips to teasing out collectible dollars during ourSnatch Your Lunch Money Back from the AR Report Bully event on Thursday, September 28th at 2 pm Eastern. Join us for this schoolyard showdown!

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"As a DME business owner for the past 35 years, I’ve utilized the services of several industry consultants. However, one consultant stands out among them most. That is Andrea Stark and MiraVista LLC. They provide the most comprehensive set of services and a DME knowledge base equaled by none. We consider MiraVista our “best value” business partner. " -Mike Cook, CEO Hill Country Medical Equipment